


Why I Freaking Love Gadreel and You Should Too

by KrazyKes (Kestrel18)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Brainwashing, Gen, Good Person Gadreel (Supernatural), Hurt Gadreel (Supernatural), Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Torture, Manipulation, Meta, Past Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:40:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28643832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kestrel18/pseuds/KrazyKes
Summary: Someone asked my why I loved Gadreel. I am petty and full of spite so I wrote an entire essay about it. If you love Gadreel, read this. If you hate him, read it. If you don't remember who he is, read this.Spoilers for all of season 9. Inspired by various tumblr posts, some head canons and theories, my own observations and the ramblings of my friends and I.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	Why I Freaking Love Gadreel and You Should Too

I’ve known for quite some time that Gadreel is not a well-liked character. Between lying to Dean, possessing Sam against his will, and killing Kevin, most fans have negative feelings for him. I am not most fans. Gadreel is my favorite character, and most people who have to listen to me rant about how he deserved better change their minds, and at least have a more neutral opinion of him. Somebody on social media asked me to explain why in the world I like him. So here:

1: Gadreel’s entire reason for existing was to indirectly trigger humans having free will. Why does that matter? Oh, right. Because that is everything Team Free Will stands for. TFW also stands for ‘If your family sucks, we’ll adopt you and be your family’. Nobody else gets blamed for Lucifer getting into the garden. So we can safely assume that Gadreel was the only guard. So how the heck was ONE angel supposed to protect it from Lucifer (for forever??) The answer? He wasn’t supposed to succeed. God intended for him to fail so humans could have free will. He fulfilled his purpose, and spent countless thousands of years paying for it. We saw that Thaddeus took immense joy in hurting Gadreel and Abner. I have lots of headcanons and theories, but for the sake of this essay, I’m sticking strictly to canon. Again, Gadreel was tortured and abused from the time Eve ate the fruit, to what 2013? For a single mistake? That seems harsh, but okay. Let’s blame the abuse on the victim of said abuse. This brings us to point two.

2: We don’t know what happened in the Garden. We can’t fully condemn Gadreel because the writers didn’t tell us what happened. We know watching the Garden was his job, the serpent got in, humanity was corrupted. He told Metatron and Castiel that what happened in the Garden was not his doing, and the stories about him are untrue. While Dean was discussing this with him with the business end of an angel blade while Gadreel was chained up (Hello PTSD triggers) Gadreel says he set ‘them’ free. We can infer 'them’ was Adam and Eve. His defense? He loved humanity. That’s it. In this scene he’s scared, suicidal and under duress, so take it with a grain of salt. He blames himself, partially because it’s been drilled into his head (probably literally) that he is a failure and worthless. But we can see he did love humanity. His first act as a free angel in 9x01 was to answer Dean’s desperate prayer for help. I’ll go over that in part 3. There’s a lot we can guess about how the snake got into the Garden. Maybe Lucifer attacked him and won, but most likely Lucifer tricked him. Just like he tricked a lot of other characters, who are completely forgiven for it. Maybe Lucifer hadn’t even fallen yet. For all we know, he could’ve said “Hey, Gad. I wanna see the Garden.” And Gadreel, being a good angel who didn’t ask questions, let him in.

3\. Gadreel could’ve hid, looked for Abner, anything he wanted. But he answered Dean’s prayer, and if you recall, was the only angel to do so with the intention of helping Dean. Did he even know of the Winchesters? Maybe, maybe not. But he clearly stated there were no good ways to save Sam. Dean asked for bad ways and Gadreel explained he could possibly heal Sam via possession. Dean agreed. Gadreel did not think it was a good plan, didn’t really want to do it, and Dean coerced him. That manipulation at the start is on Dean. Not Gadreel. Besides, Gadreel spent so much time locked away, how in his dad’s name was he supposed to know it was wrong? He was never given a chance to learn from his mistakes and do better, despite how badly he wanted to. Dean spoke to Sam in his head, and Sam said yes to Dean. Dean and Gadreel share blame, but again, everyone only condemns Gadreel because a frightened, traumatized angel who doesn’t fight back is a really easy scapegoat. 

When Gadreel was reunited Abner, Abner commented that Gadreel was 'always there to put him back together’. Even while imprisoned and being tortured, Gadreel was capable of kindness and empathy.  
When he discovered Dean had the Mark of Cain and First Blade, he only pointed out that it would be useful. He didn’t hold any sort of grudge. Sam was angry on Gadreel’s behalf (“Like that angel you stabbed, Gadreel!”) He told Castiel there was no point to healing him, it would just be a waste of Castiel’s grace. Gadreel is so forgiving.

When Crowley found and warned Sam, Gadreel walked in and said “Hello, Sam”. Crowley threw the first punch and Gadreel defended himself. The situation escalated when Sam joined the fight. I truly believe that Gadreel would’ve been willing to talk. From his very first appearance, he tries to talk his brother away from violence, reminding him that they are creatures of compassion. Not wrath. After everything he’s been through at the hands of his family, he still earnestly believes that angels are good. He has a very black and white view of the world. Good or bad, wrath or compassion. It’s interesting how he doesn’t see any middle ground, even though he himself is a complex blend of good and bad. He looks satisfied when the angel lets go of Dean, and is genuinely surprised when the angel punches him in the face. He says that’s no way to treat a brother injured in the fall and the other angel attacks him. Gadreel disarms the angel only, before being thrown against a van. We see from the beginning he talks first before fighting, and is a very defensive fighter. On screen, we only really ever see him fight in self defense. He is not a violent angel.

Honor is important to him as well. He takes the name of an honorable angel. He meets with Cas because of Sam’s high opinion of him. When he went to kill Abner, he confirmed the man’s identity, rather than just stab him in the back. And when he saw Metatron was acting dishonorably and didn't truly care about Heaven or the other angels, he left and returned to the Winchesters. 

4\. Let’s talk about how strong he is emotionally. Gabriel was tortured by Asmodeus for a max of 8 years, possibly less depending on how long he was in Monte Carlo before being sold to Asmodeus. We know Asmodeus took his grace, etc, so their experiences did differ.. But Gabe was a mess. He was traumatized, couldn’t talk, etc. Gadreel on the other hand, who was tortured even longer, was…actually pretty okay. He was talking, coherent, and able to help make a plan to save Sam. He was visibly weakened and injured, but still got the job done to the best of his abilities. Go him. Wall of God, indeed.

5\. Lying about his identity: I’m sorry, did you guys miss the part where literally all of Heaven (except Abner. Rest in peace, my dude) hates him? They hate him as much as they hate Lucifer. They hate him more than they hate Castiel. Even Castiel hated him. I’d lie too. He’s scared and knows the only chance he has to do something good is to hide his identity. He chose an angel with an honorable reputation, an angel he admired. Interestingly enough, Gabriel did this too, when he took up the mantle of Loki.

6\. Working for Metatron: Gadreel, honey, no. Why? He did it because Metatron approached Gadreel at his most vulnerable, and promised him everything he had ever wanted. Dean kept using him and using him to save Cas, Charlie, etc, despite Gadreel’s warnings. Metatron promised his safety, honor, respect, love, a family. How could Gadreel resist? And why the frick does everyone hate him for doing THE EXACT SAME THING THAT TEAM FREE WILL HAS DONE!?!? COME ON, GUYS!! He is literally a mirror of Castiel and Sam. Gadreel was Lucifer’s enabler, just as Sam is Lucifer’s vessel. Gadreel knows Sam better than anyone else, even Dean. Castiel betrayed Heaven and slaughtered a ton of angels. As did Gadreel. Maybe. See part 7. Either way, he’s a mirror for everyone, even Dean. He hates himself and is at best, casually suicidal. He dies for Cas, even though it was arguably unnecessary. He mirrors everyone on TFW, and we never got to explore that in depth.

His relationship with Metatron mirrors an abuser gaslighting, isolating, and manipulating their victim so well, it’s scary. First, Metatron got him to turn on the Winchesters, his only allies. If Gadreel hadn’t killed Kevin, Dean and Sam would’ve kept him safe and away from Metatron. Metatron praised Gadreel, saying it was tragic he went from God’s most trusted to Gadreel, the traitor, locked in heaven’s darkest dungeons. He dangled everything Gadreel wanted in front of him like a carrot on a stick. And even then, Gadreel was reluctant to kill. He insisted that wasn’t who he was. But then Cas found out the real Ezekiel was dead, and Dean tried to warn Sam. The Bunker was no longer safe, so Gadreel thought he had no other choice but to kill Kevin and join Metatron. Gadreel felt that Dean forced his hand. That doesn’t make him evil. Just scared and desperate. Gadreel had tears in his eyes as he killed Kevin. He didn’t want to. He said it wasn’t easy. If he truly wanted to, he could have killed Dean and Kevin, stolen the tablets and left. Instead, he altered the sigil to listen to what Dean had to say. Next Metatron helped him get revenge on Thaddeus. He said that kill was easy. I daresay he even enjoyed it. Again, not evil, just scared and traumatized and confused. But now he’s killed two people, and the Dean is gunning for him. He’s committed. Metatron never armed him. Gadreel stole Thaddeus’ angel blade and used that for the remainder of the season. Metatron is using Gadreel as a tool, a living weapon, and Gadreel has no idea. Metatron has him kill Abner next. But he gave the name Alexander Sarver so as not to tip off Gadreel until he was already there. Once Gadreel kills Abner, he has no one. When he gets Alexander’s name, he’s reluctant to kill. He angrily asks Metatron how many more lives he has to take. Metatron verbally berates him, saying he’s free to go. He can go back to being Gadreel, the traitor. Then changes the subject. This closely follows how people isolate a victim of abuse.

Metatron doesn’t value his safety, has him followed, and constantly belittles him. Gadreel was never Metatron’s right hand or second in command. He was little more Metatron’s attack dog.  
From the time angels were first introduced, we see that they need orders. Metatron knows this and preys on it. The only other angels who rebel are Lucifer, Castiel, Gabriel, and Anna. Look at how things went for them. It’s due to Gadreel’s strong moral compass, good intentions, bravery and will that he was able to rebel orders and help stop Metatron

7\. Killing Kevin (and others) Okay, this is the big reason everyone loves to hate him. He killed Kevin and a bunch of other angels. First, we technically never saw him killing the other angels. Hannah said a strange angel did it, leaving one alive. The hippie shopkeeper who may or may not have been checking him out got smited and his store was ransacked. Conspiracy theory time: I don’t think that was all Gadreel. For starters, he had what he needed and never killed indiscriminately. When he killed Kevin, he spared Dean, much to Metatron’s annoyance. After Gadreel killed Abner, Cas, who was human, knocked him unconscious with a single punch. Gadreel was a weakened angel. How could Gadreel single-handedly kill that many angels if he was so weak?

Killing Kevin was wrong, and he knew it, but he wasn’t given a lot of options. And he tried to fix his mistakes as best as he could. How many innocent people have Dean, Sam and Castiel killed? It’s hypocritical to hate Gadreel for that mistake but forgive everyone else. People hold him to a different standard, and I just don’t see why.

8\. Do you have PTSD? Because I do. I relate to him on a deeply personal level. I get it. I’ve been there. I have experienced abuse at the hands of my family. I’ve got depression and PTSD and have contemplated suicide because I truly believed the people around me would be better off. That’s such a dark, lonely place to be. It is not 'the pussy way out’ like some people think. You can’t fully understand unless you’ve been there. Tahmoh portrayed being there beautifully, and I wish the writers did more with his character and actually cared about suicide and mental health. Having a suicidal character kill himself for no good reason is not a satisfying end to his arc. And Hannah was unlocking his cell. There was no reason for him to die, Hannah already believed them. Gadreel was triggered into a panic attack or flashback. We know he gets suicidal when being held captive. He would rather die than be locked up again, especially that place. He chose to kill himself in a way that disgusted him, as seen when he argues with Metatron and says he recruited those angels, but Metatron lied about their purpose. Gadreel is angry and says Metatron brainwashed them into blowing themselves up. With that said, it’s also possible that Gadreel was brainwashed and never even knew.

8B. Wing clipping is a controversial topic in bird keeping. Clipping a bird’s wings, especially if they’re used to being flighted, can increase fear, stress and aggression. We’ve seen angel wings are similar to bird wings, and Hael was super bent out of shape about losing hers (“What’s an angel without their wings?”) So it is possible that the angels losing their ability to fly had a similar effect. We see how badly hurt his wings are. When we see Gadreel’s wings you could see the bones. Most of his secondary feathers (the ones closest to his body that birds use for braking and stopping) were gone. There were only tattered remains of the secondaries and a few primaries left. Castiel’s wings were messed up as well, but not nearly as bad. It is likely that Thaddeus hurt Gadreel’s wings, specifically, because Thaddeus is a dick with wings.

9\. Gadreel’s attempt at redemption: When Gadreel realized he was wrong after meeting with Castiel (and he kept his word during those meetings) he returned to the Bunker, alone, unarmed, with his hands up with an offer of peace. And Dean betrayed him. Dean offered to shake his hand, then tried to eviscerate him! And Gadreel just left. Honor means so much to him, but when Dean was the dishonorable one, he didn’t fight back or try to get revenge. He just found a quiet spot outside where he could see the sky and peacefully bleed to death. Which is, you know. Fine. Not like I needed my heart. Then, in Heaven’s prison, his PTSD was triggered, he was being ridiculed ("I believe Gadreel can give you the tour." "So I'm expected to believe the word of an angel who's only though of himself since the Garden?" [Side note, what else was he supposed to care about? No one else cared except for Abner. And Gadreel cared about him, showing how little Hannah and Castiel actually knew him.]) but Cas forgave him. Cas finally understood him and told him “You’ve been redeemed, my friend” and then Gadreel killed himself. It was unnecessary. Hannah was opening his cell. Castiel had forgiven him. He and Sam both called him a friend. But it was too late, and Gadreel died as he lived. Locked in a cage. But think of the potential we could’ve had. He could’ve gotten a huge Zuko-esque redemption arc. Our dude has got an honor complex and family issues enough to rival Zuko. All that potential! He was such an interesting, conflicted character with So! Much! Potential!

In conclusion, Gadreel was an angel who has experienced nothing but cruelty, violence, and betrayal, and abhors it. He wants a chance to be good so bad it’s painful and heart wrenching. All of the problems in season 9 could’ve been avoided if he had gotten a hug, some therapy and maybe a restraining order against Metatron and Thaddeus. If he had found Abner earlier or somebody with good intentions had reached out to him and actually cared about him before Metatron corrupted him, he could’ve been saved.

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts? Agree/disagree?


End file.
